23 February, 2010

The VO Rando frames arrived today. They look great and we did quality control checks this morning and were very pleased. We're building up samples right now.

You may remember that we changed paint color from the prototype's silver to dark blue. The paint job is very nice, not as good as custom paint, but better than many production frames. The blue color has a little red in it so there is a purple tint, all in all we think it's rather handsome.

The frames can be now be ordered on the site. Any part ordered with the frames are discounted by 10%. The VO Rando racks, which fit this frame, also arrived.

There were several previous posts posts about this frame. Photos of, and commentary about, the prototype can be found here. This frame is basically a production version of our, now discontinued, custom randonneur frame.

It has taken almost three years to get these frames made, but once you see and ride them we hope you'll agree that they were worth the wait.

Here is the description I wrote for the VO Store:

The Velo Orange Rando frame is designed for spirited long distance road riding and light touring. It can be thought of as a frame that's halfway between a racing frame and a touring frame, suitable for a “credit-card tour”, a 1200km brevet, or a fast club ride.

Construction is lugged and of traditional diameter, not oversize, double butted chrome-molly tubing. The lugs are classic medium point style with small reinforcement webs. Tubing specs and geometry are virtually identical to those used on our semi-custom Pass Hunter and Rando frames. The frame is designed to give a supple and comfortable ride.

The paint is dark blue with just a bit of red, giving a slight purple tint. A single decal graces the downtube, in the traditional constructeur style.

The rando frame is designed for long reach (47 to 57mm) caliper brakes. The ideal tires for this frame would be high quality supple 25-30mm 700c tires such as Pasela 28mm, Grand Bois 28mm, or Challenge 27mm (which are really 29mm). Such tires will provide optimal handling, a very comfortable ride and low rolling resistance 43-45mm fenders fit perfectly. Maximum tire size without fenders is 32mm.

As with all VO frames the emphasis is on comfort and perfect handling, handling that is neutral and forgiving even after 12 hours in the saddle. We use a low trail design as perfected by the French constructeurs and famed for it's ability to "take care of a tired rider". Since low trail geometry is perfect for use with handlebar bag there are braze-ons for a VO rando rack. This keeps the bag within reach, but low enough to ensure that it does not adversely effect handling.

Very nice, I love seeing new options in lugged steel. In fact, it looks close to perfect, with one exception IMO: the bend in the forks looks awkward and not at all graceful. It could be the angle of the photo, though.

love the long tangs on the fork crown. i've got many bikes, the '61 olmo with the long fork crown tangs just has a more "solid" feel.particularly when cornering.not sure why they are not seen more often, thanks for including this feature!